Fourth Day: Expiation for Venial Sins and Imperfections
by VP
Posted on Tuesday November 04, 2025 at 04:00AM in Purgatory Month Meditations
" The judgments of God are very different from the judgments of men. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways My ways,:" saith the Lord. "For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts." (Is. LV. 8-9) Though the judgments of God are severe, they are ever just. "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required." (Luke XII. 48) And St. Gregory the Great says: "Where grace has been augmented, there, also, the account has been increased." From those souls, upon whom God has bestowed great and special graces, He demands a faithful co-operation, and the least infidelity to such grace is punished with extreme severity: the purgation or cleansing of these favored souls must be perfect in proportion to the high degree of glory to which they are to be exalted. in reference to prayer for the suffering souls, who are in Purgatory for venial sins and imperfections, we must observe that, though their time of suffering is comparatively short, and their punishment less rigorous, their pain and agony is more intense, owing to their yearning desire of perfect union with God. They are in utmost need of our fervent prayers, and will show their gratitude by their petitions for us before the throne of God, according to the speedy assistance we have given them during our earthly lives."
Prayer: Inflame within us, O Lord, the fire of Thy Divine Love, that all our inordinate desires may be consumed here upon earth, thus rendering our prayers for the suffering souls in Purgatory more acceptable to Thee and beneficial to them. Though Christ Our Lord. Amen
Prayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten, and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls of those who have suffered for the longest time in Purgatory.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. (Three times)
Practice: Do not let human respect prevent you from performing a duty.
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907St. Hubert, A.D. 727
by VP
Posted on Monday November 03, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
Saint Hubert (Franz Mayer & Co., St. Patrick's Basilica, Ottawa, Canada)
GRACE TRIUMPHANT. - God only imparts grace to such as merit it; for none are ever deserving of grace, save those whom He has predestinated, with reference to His own wise ends. Grace proceeds from God, co-operation therewith comes from man; as may be seen in the case of St. Paul, St. Augustine, and St. Hubert. The latter, while still a pagan, with his mind intent on mere diversion, was pursuing a stag in the chase, when the animal was all at once seen bearing between its antlers a luminous cross. The hunter, throwing himself on his knees, declared himself a Christian; and, becoming by his great piety the admiration of the people, was elected to the bishopric of Maestricht, and, subsequently, to that of Liege. He laboured with indefatigable zeal to extirpate the remains of idolatry from his extensive diocese, whereof he may be considered the second apostle, as well as from the Ardennes. He preached with so much power and unction, that multitudes thronged to listen to his words, and were unable to resist being influenced to good. God rewarded his fervour and upheld his zeal by according him the gift of miracles. He died a holy death in 727.
MORAL REFLECTION. - What the Wise Man has said of Wisdom may be applied to Grace: "That it ordereth the means with gentleness, and attaineth its end with power.”—(Wisd. viii. 1.) Source: Pictorial half hour with the saints by Abbe leCanu
Saint Martin Porres, Confessor A.D. 1569-1639
by VP
Posted on Monday November 03, 2025 at 03:00AM in Saints
Saint Martin de Porres, Holy Name Cathedral Raleigh
"BLESSED MARTIN was a native of South America, Nov. 5 and was born at Lima, the capital of Peru, A.D. 1569. His father was a Spanish knight of noble birth, but his mother, though she belonged to one of the richest families of Panama, was of the despised coloured race. The child inherited her features and complexion, on which account his father conceived a dislike for him and turned him out of his house. From his tenderest years little Martin was distinguished for his spirit of piety and mortification. At the age of thirteen he already devoted part of the night to prayer and contemplation, gave away to the poor all the money that
Nov. 5 was bestowed upon him, and even deprived himself of his own food and clothing on their behalf. In order to be able to assist them more efficaciously, he studied medicine and surgery. He always exercised his art gratis, and God often rewarded his charity by marvellous and even miraculous cures.
When he was still young, Our Lady herself commanded him to enter the Dominican Order. In obedience to her will, he accordingly begged to be admitted into the Convent of the Holy Rosary in his native city. His birth, his talents, and above all, his reputation for sanctity, made the Fathers anxious to give him the habit of a choir religious, but he steadfastly refused even the lowly position of a lay brother, preferring to serve the Community in the yet humbler capacity of a Tertiary. Indeed, humility was ever his most distinguishing virtue, and he sincerely rejoiced when treated with scorn and contempt. He became the Infirmarian of the Convent, and, in fact, of all the poor of the city; and his charity specially displayed itself when a contagious disease struck down at the same time as many as sixty members of the Community. For months he allowed himself neither sleep nor food, his life being miraculously supported by Almighty God, for the sake of the sick whom he so charitably tended.
It was his duty to distribute daily to the poor the remains of the meals of the Community. When his stock of food was insufficient for the numbers who presented themselves, he would obtain its miraculous multiplication by his faithful and humble prayers, so that he had enough left for the poor who were ashamed to beg, to whom he sent relief by trusty messengers. His charity extended to every sort of human misery. Through the instrumentality of this humble religious, an immense orphanage was established in Lima, containing several hundred children of both sexes; Nov. 5 and to this were soon added other buildings to shelter foundlings, the sick poor, the aged, and penitents. In order that needy wayfarers might not be tempted to steal, he caused fruit-trees to be planted along the public roads to provide them with refreshment.
Even the dumb animals had their share in his compassionate tenderness, and seemed instinctively to know that he had constituted himself their physician and protector. When hurt or half-starved, they betook themselves to the Convent, where Blessed Martin always fed and nursed them; till at length his hospital for dogs, cats, and other suffering animals became so full, that he persuaded his sister to give them accommodation in her house, whither he went daily to feed them and dress their wounds. God gave His servant a wonderful power over these dumb creatures, so that they understood and obeyed him. He could not bear to see rats and mice destroyed, and would say: "If these poor little things were daily provided with food as we are, they would do no mischief." Then he commanded the creatures to withdraw to a remote part of the garden, whither he carried a supply of food for them every day; and their ravages in the Convent ceased. Even to the present time Blessed Martin continues to exercise his miraculous gifts with regard to the lower creation; he is constantly and efficaciously invoked to put a stop to the depredations of rats, mice, and other animals.
His burning love for his crucified Master, together with his zeal for souls and deep contrition of heart, found expression in the severest austerities. Thrice every night he afflicted his body with a terrible discipline, the third time receiving this penance at the hands of some of the Indian slaves attached to the service of the Convent; and to prolong the pain he would afterwards bathe the torn and wounded flesh with vinegar and salt, offering all these sufferings, after the example of his holy Patriarch, Saint Dominic, for his own sins, for the conversion of sinners, and for the relief of the souls in Purgatory. He fasted almost the whole year round on bread and water, spent the greater part of the night in prayer, and took his scanty rest in the Chapter-Room, on the bier used for the burial of the dead. So rigid was his poverty that he possessed nothing but a rosary and a crucifix; he had not even a change of clothes. His obedience was simply miraculous. He seemed to divine what was required of him; and over and over again Superiors, coming to give him some order, found him already in the act of executing it.
Blessed Martin was united in close and holy friendship with a beatified lay brother of the Order, Blessed John Massias, then resident in the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalen in Lima. Blessed Martin's happy death took place on the 5th of November, A.D. 1639. His miracles, both during life and after death, were very numerous; he possessed in an eminent degree the gift of prophecy; he is known to have been frequently present at the same time in two places far remote from each other. Blessed Martin was beatified by Gregory XVI."
Prayer: O God, the exalter of the humble, who didst make Blessed Martin, Thy Confessor, to enter the heavenly kingdom, grant, through his merits and intercession, that we may so follow the example of his humility on earth as to deserve to be exalted with him in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Third Day: The Doctrine of Purgatory
by VP
Posted on Monday November 03, 2025 at 01:00AM in Meditations
The destiny awaiting us at death is not the same for all men: "He will render to every man according to his works." (Matthew XVI. 27) Heaven, Hell and Purgatory are the three places into which the souls of the departed are received. Heaven is the happy destination of perfectly pure and holy souls only; Hell the final doom of the reprobate; Purgatory, temporarily for the just, who are not, as yet, entirely purified. There God completes the punishment due to their faults, which were not sufficiently atoned for on earth; there He submits these holy souls to the last purgation, to cleanse them from the least stain, and, by fire, to bring them to that degree of perfected purity, which is necessary for them before being admitted to eternal bliss.
Hence there are two classes of souls in Purgatory:
1. Those who depart this life, stained by venial sins and imperfections.
2. Those who have repented, and if possible, confessed their mortal sins without, however, having done sufficient penance for them. Judging from our lives, experience teaches us that most men deserve Purgatory for both causes.
Prayer: Graciously hear, O Lord, the fervent prayers we offer Thee for the suffering souls in Purgatory, who, not being able to satisfy Thy divine justice, confide in Thine infinite mercy and our intercessions. Extend unto them Thy consolations, and redeem them, through Christ, our Lord. AmenPrayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst
suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with
thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy
on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten
and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those
priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten,
and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do
Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and
admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls of those who suffer in Purgatory for little faults.
Lord grant them eternal rest and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen (Three times)
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907All Souls
by VP
Posted on Monday November 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Priez pour les âmes du purgatoire, Brittany Museum
- Help Holy Souls in Purgatory With a Double Plenary Indulgence This Jubilee 2025
Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November
"Oh, my friends, let us pray much, and let obtain many prayers from
others, for the poor dead; the good God will render us
back the good we do to them a hundredfold. Ah! if
every one knew how useful this devotion to the holy souls in purgatory
is
to those who practice it, they would not be
forgotten so often; the good God regards all that we do for them as if
it were done to Himself."
-- St. John Mary Vianney (Blessed Sacrament Book, Fr. Francis X. Lasance)
"A DAY appointed for all Christians to unite in prayer for the souls of all the faithful departed, for their comfort and relief. Be not wanting in this charity. If you would but once seriously reflect how great are the sufferings in those purifying flames, that compassion which is due to the miserable, would oblige you to be most solicitous in bringing them relief. How can you think of so many souls, and among them, very likely, some of your parents, children, relations, or friends, so severely tormented, and that it is in your power daily to help them; and yet be unconcerned and cold in doing it? Is not this an argument of your want of faith, or charity? Help them therefore this day by your most fervent prayers. And every day join with the priest at the altar, in his memento for the dead. Condemn your neglect, if you know it not; and if you know it, let it be a daily summons to exercise your charity. Let the consideration of the divine justice on these souls oblige you to be watchful in avoiding those sins which are the fuel which feeds this fire. Do justice likewise on yourself in the voluntary punishment of your past sins; that so you may not fall under the justice of God. For if we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged. For this end, fail not at least to accept of those troubles which come from the hand of God, as his appointment, or permission. Bear them all with the holy dispositions of these pious souls, in patience and submission, confessing God to be just in all his ways, and merciful too in giving you opportunities of discharging your debts, both as to the guilt and punishment. The souls in hell resist the will of God; and the effect of their suffering is murmuring, rage, and despair. But these souls in purgatory, who wait for heaven, suffer with patience, submission, and peace; and the effect of their suffering is joy everlasting. Consider well which you are to admire and imitate while you are yet on earth." Source: The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Sunday Sermon: Fraternal Charity
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 02, 2025 at 05:00AM in Sunday Sermons
William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - Compassion
"Shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant ?" St. Matthew 18. 33.
1. We are keen to obtain God's forgiveness.
2. But how different are we towards others!
3. A test of holiness is this fraternal charity.
4. God so willingly forgives, if we are kind.
We have all needed this reprimand, and most of us many a time. "Shouldst not thou then have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant?" What different kind of people we are, when asking forgiveness and when we are asked to forgive! At confession how anxious to be forgiven; shortly afterwards how harsh and unkind and fault-finding to others! We forget God's mercy is granted to us in the same measure that we give it to others.
Little things betray the spirit of our hearts in this respect. It is no excuse that they are only little things. There is nothing that is really little, that is for God or against God. Besides, if we are resentful and bitter about small matters, how can we reasonably expect to be forgiving, kind, and charitable when we have serious reason to be hurt and offended? For the safety of our soul we have to watch small failings in this matter of fraternal charity.
Naturally we are very prone and ready to fail in charity. We are keen to notice; to think evil; to repeat and exaggerate anything against another; self-love easily takes offense, and the offense rankles, and brotherly love is ruined. Whereas, with the aid of prayer, and with the grace of God, we should constantly try to be charitable; thinking no evil; saying no unkind word; doing kindnesses even to those who have been unkind to us. Above all, to be ready to forgive from the heart whatever may have been said or done against us. In this matter we have either to mean and try to be saints, or we shall, eventually, find ourselves reprimanded and punished by our Master, Jesus Christ.
Take what the saints have done and said. The great St. Teresa prays thus: "Forgive us, O Lord, not because of our prayers and good deeds, but because we have forgiven." When Blessed Juvenal Ancina was dying, poisoned by an enemy, he not only refused to mention the name of the assassin, whom he knew well, but strictly forbade that any inquiry should be made to lead to his punishment. And St. John Gualbertus, about to kill the murderer of his brother, at the sign and mention of the Cross, forgave him from his heart. And this was the turning-point-a proud young nobleman changed into a saint.
Not only were the saints ready to forgive, but they practiced active and kindly charity amongst the poor, the sick, and the afflicted. When we read the lives of holy men we cannot help but be struck by this humble and penitential habit. Even exalted personages and profound scholars steal time from their other labors to visit hospitals and the poor in their homes. This is one of the surest marks of real holiness. And others, again, devoted their whole lives to such work and founded religious Orders to perpetuate their labors. Oh! they had compassion on their fellow-servants. Call to mind St. Vincent of Paul. Who shall ever tell all that has been done in his life and since his death, by himself and those he taught to succor human misery? Their name is legion who have followed in his footsteps. And St. Camillus, the patron of a holy death, whose holy calling it was to tend the dying, winning poor sinners over in his hospitals to repent and die in peace. These are the heroes of charity, and so many more that could be named, and whom you of yourselves will remember. Heroes of charity, who loved to tend the most loathsome diseases, and whose touch wrought so many miraculous cures. We cannot be like them heroes, but we can and must pray to have a little of their spirit of kindness and compassion.
We must be determined and ready to meet the trials of life with resignation and serenity, and being kind to others in their necessities and miseries will bring this grace to our own souls. We cannot help it; suffering is like our shadow-we cannot get away from it. But being mindful and tender towards the sufferings of others will enable us to bear our own with fortitude and hope. St. Laurence the Martyr first saw to the poor and afflicted, distributed the Church's treasures to them, and with the sign of the Cross opened the eyes of the blind; and then when roasted slowly to death, God blessed him so that the flames were like roses to him, and happily and triumphantly he died for Christ. This is how God blesses compassion and fraternal charity.
For ourselves let us take consolation from this thought: God seems blind to our failings, as long as He sees kindness to others in our hearts. He gives us Himself as an example. He was meekness itself; He went about doing good to all; He loved to be amongst the poor; and of all that were diseased, do we read of one being sent away uncured? And His blessed Mother is like to Him, as we should expect. We salute her as Queen of Heaven, but a title she loves better is "Mother of Mercy." How often have we stood in need of her pity and her help, and how often again shall we receive it, for she will ask our Lord for us, and she cannot be denied, if only she sees us striving to be to each other kind, and charitable, and merciful, and compassionate." Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey (21rst Sunday after Pentecost)Blossoms that never fade
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 02, 2025 at 04:00AM in Tradition
A Burial at Ornans, Gustave Courbet
"Of
late years Catholics in some places have begun to copy the pagan custom
of decorating the dead. Flower wagons seem to form a necessary part of
most funerals. The non-Catholic has no Mass, and Purgatory is a place
unknown to him. He may mean to express his sympathy and sorrow in the
flower he places on the coffin of the dead. It may speak for him the
last farewell of a loving heart to a cherished friend.
But
flowers are not for the dead, they take away the thought of death. The
sacredness of that solemn moment is lost amid the fragrance of flowers.
The casket hides an awful mystery. "Thou shalt die the death." The
deceased friend has paid his share of Adam's debt, the living must be
reminded of the debt that is still unpaid - their own. Gay flowers and
handsome wreaths disturb the majesty of the thought.
The burial
of our dead is a religious ceremony; not a vain and worldly pageant. The
rubrics of the Church forbid flowers on the altar at funeral Masses;
the altar is draped in mourning; the priest wears black vestments; all
in keeping with the great and solemn mystery of death. Many dioceses
have strict rulings forbidding flowers in Church at funerals.
What
comfort will it be to you, kind reader, to have flowers lavished on
your remains? Your poor soul will be craving in the cleansing fires of
Purgatory, not for flowers, but for prayers, for the Precious Blood in
the Holy Sacrifice of the mass! Source: Annals of St. Joseph Nov. 1917, Vol XXIX No. 9 Norbertine Fathers page 141
- Annual Poor Souls Enrollment (Fssp)
- Purgatorian Archconfraternity (Fssr)
- Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society
Second day: Anniversary of "All-Souls"
by VP
Posted on Sunday November 02, 2025 at 04:00AM in Purgatory Month Meditations
Our Lady of Guadalupe's Cemetery, Newton Grove NC
The anniversary of "All-Souls" was instituted by the Church as a day of special prayer for all the faithful departed who are as yet deprived of the blissful contemplation of God, and the possession of Heaven. These holy souls endure most agonizing torments, and count the lingering moments of time, while awaiting release from prison, or, at least, some relief in their intense pain. They have special confidence in their friends and relatives upon earth, hoping to be lovingly cherished in their memory, and aided by their fervent prayers. With holy Job they cry out: "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me." (Job XIX, 21.)
The anniversary of All-Souls should serve to revive and confirm our devotion in behalf of the suffering souls in Purgatory, and induce us to make ample amends for our neglect of this duty during the year. "A gift hath grace in the sight of all the living, and restrain not grace from the dead." (Eccl. VII. 37.)
Prayer: O God, Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants pardon of all their sins, that by pious supplications they may graciously obtain the remission they have always desired, Thou Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.Prayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten, and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls of those who suffer the greatest torments.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light
shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. (three times)
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907Month of November: Souls in Purgatory
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 01, 2025 at 03:00AM in Monthly Devotion
"Oh, my friends, let us pray much, and let obtain many prayers from others, for the poor dead; the good God will render us back the good we do to them a hundredfold. Ah! if every one knew how useful this devotion to the holy souls in purgatory is to those who practice it, they would not be forgotten so often; the good God regards all that we do for them as if it were done to Himself." -- St. John Mary Vianney (Blessed Sacrament Book, Fr. Francis X. Lasance)
Devotion for the month of November: Souls in Purgatory
Virtue of the month of November: Charity
This is the first and greatest commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart; but the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Matthew, xxii: 88
"My God and my Lord! What need was there of commanding us to love Thee? Art Thou not most lovely in Thy infinite perfections? and for the infinite love Thou bearest to us, dost Thou not deserve our love? How, then, is it possible that any one should not love Thee? if there is such a person, it must be because he has not deserved to know Thee. For, a soul that knows God, cannot help loving Him, and loving Him in proportion to his knowledge of Him; so that is he loves Him but little, it is a sign that he knows Him but little; and the more his knowledge increases, the more his love will go on growing. St. Teresa."
"Among all those who are included under the title of neighbor, there are none who deserve it more, in one sense, that those of our own household. They are nearest of all of us, living under the same roof, and eating the same bread. Therefore, they ought to be one the principal objects of our love, and we should practice in regard to them all the acts of true charity, which ought to be founded not in flesh and blood, or upon their good qualities, but altogether upon God. St. Francis de Sales"
November's Daily Thoughts:
November's leaden skies are stretched above the fields
That Autumn's sun from flaming gold turned gray;
How faint they gleam in gossamered delight that yields
The grandeurs of Saint Martin's summer day.
True hearts are awed, yet fain, to see that Nature died;
True souls rejoice to know that not in vain they sighed.
As verdure passed, so man who is of earth, but part,
Lays down his life like wilted garden blooms,
And flowered clay, like pall, enshrouds the frozen heart,
But not the soul that Justice then illumes.
What naught was held, is vivid splotch in vision pure,
And in the purgatorial flames finds cleaning cure.
Like babes, they helpless mourn to burn away their stains,
And know beyond the bars beams heaven's light
That God will show, like sun-lit sheen, when pardon reigns.
While yet our days are clear, they live in night;
The merits of Christ-blest November's daily prayer.
Rev. T.F. Kramer, C.PP.S.
1923 Messenger of the Most Precious Blood, Volumes 28-29
Feast of all Saints: The Church reviews Her Successes
by VP
Posted on Saturday November 01, 2025 at 03:00AM in Sermons
Fra Angelico: The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs
"Our yearly liturgical course in living with Christ is fast drawing to a close. That is the reason why these last Sunday Masses have been showing us various aspects of the final reckoning when Christ our Judge will examine us to see how we have profited by all those countless opportunities of grace lavished upon us in every Sacrifice and sacrament throughout the year. What therefore could be more natural for us than, finding within ourselves the same un-Christly Christians as of yore, to feel a sense of frustration at the thought of so great a discrepancy between what was expected of us and what we have actually achieved? Can the liturgical life really be so marvelous a thing, if it shows so little proof of its power in our own daily living? Just such a sense of discouragement on our part the Church seems to have anticipated. For right here, almost at the close of her annual course, she gives us in review a veritable pageant of successful lives lived by those whom she has already graduated into eternity summa cum laude.
These multitudes of human beings from every race and nation, from every clime and century - what are they, one and all, but drops of water in the vast ocean of Christ's redemptive work? Each one, as a member of the Mystical Body on earth, has not only been saved thereby but has also helped to "fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ,...for his body, which is the Church." Col. 1:24. Douay-Rheims.
The ocean of redemptive merits became so vast a thing in its multiple human aspect that we could only gaze in wonderment at its unfathomable extent and depth. This is why, for those of us who are able to go to weekday Mass, the liturgy allowed us to examine this redeeming accomplishment of Christ a drop at a time, while we celebrated the feast days of the saints. Thus holding up a tiny particle of Christly glory to the great sun of God's infinite perfections, we could study their separate rays as they were refracted in the various hues of those personalities through which they passed. For the divine attributes, incarnate in mortal men, are, as it were, split into tiny human colors, so that we may more easily study them and try to adapt them to our own poor way of life.
To say, for instance, that God is love does not pass beyond the cold, clear realm of our intellect. But to learn that Francis of Assisi, in reflecting this divine charity, loved every flower and bird and uncouth clod of humankind to romantic folly, has set seven hundred years ablaze. When we are told that God is good, we nod assent and stifle a yawn. But when we read that a Peter Claver, filled to the brim by a participation in this goodness, could spend years of devoted service amid the nauseating slave ships in his endeavor to salvage souls for eternity- ah! then we begin to think that goodness is something real after all.
Thus through this past year the Church has carefully marshaled before us her procession of successes, men, women, and even children. All from the dawn of Christianity have chosen to live the Christ-Life to its fullest extent, regardless of the cost. Each of these heroes has paid in some way the price of life itself, if not by the actual shedding of his blood, then at least by the slow and relentless extermination of self in every form, so that it might be no longer he that lived but Christ in him.
Since, however, the vast majority of Christians, unable to go to daily Mass, cannot study this pageant of Christ's heroes gradually throughout the year, the Church has set aside this feast as a day of obligation. Now all her members may see in one grand review all those whose outstanding success bears witness to the potency of the Christ-Life as lived in and through the liturgical signs which make that Life an ever present reality.
Also the Church's object in thus honoring her heroes is to make us realize her great doctrine, the Communion of Saints. This is that celestial plan of distributive wealth, whereby the millionaires of heaven from their own abundance may effectively subsidize us, their needy brethren. This means that through the very special grace of today's feast of All Saints, we may fill our souls to overflowing with all the riches of Christ's members, who have traded with their talents so as to enrich not only themselves but also their brethren of every age and race and nation." Companion to the Missal, Sister M Cecilia OSB
"Oh! (...) My brethren, let the world have its gods and worship them; let it have its wisdom, which is foolishness with God; let it deride and mock at penance, at asceticism, at Religious vows, at practices of humiliation, at pilgrimages, at devotions, at prayer itself. But let us remember that Christ, and His Church after Him, have cursed the world. Voe Mundo! Let us stand firm, though power, and wealth, and culture be in conspiracy against us. Let us stand firm, though we be persecuted and vilified, and our name cast out as evil for Christ's sake. Let us keep the faith. Let us be imitators of the Saints as they also were of Christ. Let us fix our eyes on the end of all things, on the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. Let us never forget those words, so full at once of terror and consolation: "Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them and taken away their labors. Those seeing it, shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit: These are they, whom we had sometime in derision, and for a parable of reproach. We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor. Behold, how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the Saints." Sermons by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, Vol. 3, Feast of all Saints.
